Where did the time go??

Kathelijn van Heusden, 23 (Marine Program, MRCI)

My four weeks at MRCI have flown by in a complete whirlwind of wonderful new friends, a heap of marine related knowledge and above all, many scuba diving adventures. As I was not PADI certified before joining the Marine Program, my stay at Turtle Cove on Nosy Komba started off with meeting my instructor Jacques, who I would be spending most of my mornings with over the first week here (lucky for him, somehow the Madagascan sun has turned me into way more of a morning person than I am at home…;) ) Being able to do my confined open water dives, not in a pool somewhere, but in the shallows of our very own beach has been amazing, and Jacques is a wonderfully kind and patient instructor. My fellow Mariners waste no time in filling me in on which are the nicest creatures to find on our reef (Nudi’s and Boxfish for the win!), their weekend plans on Nosy Be and how to make sure you can be first in line for seconds at dinner. Since we get the weekends off we plan a Whale Shark trip (Snorkeling with these majestic creatures should truly be on eveyone’s bucketlist) and an excursion to Nosy Iranja (A beautiful tropical island Jack Sparrow would gladly finish a bottle of rum on). I seriously am beginning to wonder why I even packed clothes for this trip as I am spending every day morning till evening in my swimsuit or wetsuit, participating in dives or on one of the many dry activities that are organised, beach cleans and turtle watch being two of my favourites. The time here flies by and you’ll find yourself wondering why you even booked a ticket home in the first place in no time at all…